“Apples or oranges?”
“Oranges.”
“Desert or ocean?”
“Ocean.”
“Stars or hearts?”
I think about this for a moment.
“Stars,” I answer in the end.
He hums under his breath, but doesn’t reply anything.
“Sunflowers or roses?”
“Sunflowers,” I say smiling to myself.
“Pink or lime green?”
“Neither?” I utter this as a question. From the corner of my eye I see that he’s shaking his head. I have to choose. “Pink.”
I look at him. A hot breeze stirs his hair – it feels like the wind’s bringing the African heat with it. Others would say he looks like he stepped out of a dream. I’m not sure I still have dreams. I might’ve had some. Who knows, maybe there was a black-haired guy in them with sun-kissed skin. And he had warm, hazel eyes. I’m not sure. Anyway, if he ever existed, he’s long gone by now.
“Star Trek or Star Wars?”
“Hey, that’s not fair!” I wail half-laughing.
“Life never is,” he shrugs.
He’s right. It never is. It wasn’t when it took my sister. His brother, too. It feels as if our lives changed at the stroke of a pen. We have to fill the void. We expected, wanted something else, but that is long forgotten. It’s like it has happened a lifetime ago.
His sapphire blue eyes seem to reflect my own feelings. Maybe he is thinking the same thing.
“Star Trek,” I say after some thinking.
“Bones or blood?”
“Blood.”
“Up or down?”
“Up.”
He hums again.
The sun is shining brightly, but we don’t really feel its heat in the shadow of the willow. A blurry figure catches my eye: he is walking on the road that curves around the hill. I’m thinking about how hot he must be. Why did he start his journey on the boiling asphalt at this time? It’s a fleeting thought, and surely, I’m not that interested in the answer, since the boy sitting next to me claims my undivided attention as soon as he opens his mouth.
“Snow or sunshine?”
“Snow.”
Maybe I’ve chosen that only because some change would be nice. I’d love to take a trip to the mountains. Learn how to ski. Drink hot chocolate and make snow angels. But these things won’t happen, not for a long a long time, anyway.
Tattered little clouds appear on the perfectly clear sky.
He leans over me and picks a small white flower. But he doesn’t get back to his place, not all the way. Balancing himself on his arms he whispers:
“Truth or dare?”
I lose myself in his sapphire blue eyes.
Maybe there is nothing we can do. Maybe fate exists. Some kind of a deity. Parcae. Maybe this whole thing is just one huge play and the roles are already written. Maybe we’re just puppets playing the same story again and again. Maybe I have no other choice. Or maybe I’m just not strong enough.
I give in.
“Dare,” I answer slowly.
He presses his hot lips against mine, and all my worries and doubts melt away.
This was meant to be. This is the path we must take. He and I. Together.